


The First Contact War

by AXEe



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Future, Gen, Science Fiction, Space Cats, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-15 05:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19288789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: We thought that we were alone, that the silence of the universe meant that intelligent life like ourselves was rare and unique, that the vast emptiness of the universe was ours for the taking.We were wrong.Our first contact with another intelligent species was disastrous.  No one knows who fired first, whether it was us or them, but the end result was our first interstellar war, a war with a species dedicated to nothing less than our complete and total extermination, a brutal, vicious species known as 'humans'.Now, as the war enters its tenth year, the tide will turn in our favor...





	1. The Face of the Enemy

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! More original work from me! :=). This one came about from my thinking of what if, in a typical sci-fi alien war type situation, we humans, were the 'bad guys'? What if we were the ones who attacked seemingly without provocation, the ones who committed seemingly barbaric acts against enemy forces?
> 
> Well, hopefully, here's the answer to the question, so enjoy :=)

******

**Planet J-25**

The planet designated only as ‘J-25’ was largely unremarkable in the grand scheme of the universe. A relatively young world compared to others, its surface was covered largely in primitive mosses and ferns, while insects buzzed about and a few simple grazing animals trotted about, pausing to bend down to eat some of the aforementioned mosses and ferns, totally unconcerned with the battle raging several hundred feet down on the valley floor.

Standing on a cliff edge, bracing herself up against a large boulder, Warrior Tev M’a’Tel took a nervous breath as she gripped her rifle, her palms were sweating, making her grip on the fero-plas rifle slippery, and she regretted not grabbing a pair of gloves before she boarded the dropship.

Deciding to risk it, she activated her helmet’s sensor suite, the rocky landscape immediately becoming awash in blues, reds, yellows, and greens as heat signatures bloomed all around her, mostly animals and a few plants, nothing to be concerned about for now.

An alert suddenly caught her attention; someone was actively scanning for sensor sweeps. Cursing under her breath, Tev shut her sensor suite down before wrenching the heavy and uncomfortable helmet off, absently flexing her ears as she took a breath, relieved at the feel of the air running through her fawn-colored fur, before she let out a startled gasp as a fero-plas slug struck the rock just scant inches from her head.

Diving out of the way, she ducked and rolled, somersaulting across the rocky terrain, bringing her rifle up to bear as she rolled up into a half-crouch, her tail swishing behind her nervously.

There! A Human solider!

Swinging the rifle over, she fired, the magnetically-accelerated slug streaking invisibly through the air to strike the Human in the upper neck, grazing the while armor that all Human troops seemed to wear.

Stumbling, the Human swiftly recovered, and Tev cursed her luck, she must have just grazed the Human’s armor, not actually wounded them. Getting to her feet, Tev sprinted across the uneven terrain, the Human fast behind her; by the Builder these people were tenacious!

Stumbling over a few larger rocks, Tev dove over a large boulder, dropping down to crouch behind it, absently checking her ammunition. Only one round left, great.

Cueing the comlink attached to her upper arm, she set it to record and hoped that her last moments it preserved would be dignified. Steadying herself, she braced her rifle against the boulder’s upper surface and peered through the scope, seeing nothing.

Something suddenly struck her from behind. Falling to the ground, she frantically rolled onto her back, throwing her arms up, using the rifle to deflect the wild stabs and slashes as the Human leapt atop her, frantically trying to stab her with the foot-long knife it held tightly in one hand.

Gasping, Tev frantically pushed up, trying to push the blade away, but Humans were natural stronger than jev’ich. Grunting, Tev twisted the rifle sideways, the sudden movement, throwing the Human off balance.

Now having the upper hand, Tev rolled over, pinning the Human to the ground as both the knife and her own rifle flew away from them both. Gripping the Human’s shoulders, Tev repeatedly yanked them up before slamming them down against the ground as hard as she could.

With a final, pained groan, the Human went still, going limp beneath her. Panting for breath, Tev sat back and assessed the unconscious Human. Like all Human soldiers, her opponent was clad head to toe in white plastoid armor, leaving no identifying features visible, making them all look alike on the battlefield.

Frowning, Tev reached out and, carefully, edged the helmet off. The Human was seemingly female if she was guessing right, its naked, furless face with its lack of muzzle and pointed nose disturbed her to see, and it was with a shudder that she managed to work her fingers under the high collar on the Human’s neck, checking for, and finding, a steady pulse.

Starting as her comlink chirped, she answered it.

“Warrior Tev M’a’Tel here”

“ _Warrior, this is the Battlemaster, the Humans are in retreat,_ ” the Battlemaster announced “ _return to the drop site for extraction_ ” she ordered.

“Understood, Battlemaster,” Tev replied “Battlemaster, I have a prisoner here” she reported.

There was a pause.

“ _Alive?_ ” the Battlemaster asked.

“Yes” Tev reported.

“ _Has the Human tried to commit suicide yet?_ ” the Battlemaster asked.

“No,” Tev replied “it’s unconscious”

There was a pause before the Battlemaster replied.

“ _Activate your transponder and remain where you are,_ ” she instructed “ _a team of elites will there shortly to assist you_ ”

“Understood, Battlemaster”

******

The Pride warship _Che’z’a_ silently orbited the unremarkable planet. Onboard, Warrior Tev M’a’Tel frowned as she and three Elites glided through the corridors towards the medical bay, the still-unconscious Human being carried between them, as always the transition from the gravity of a planet to the weightless environment of the _Che’z’a_ made Tev’s stomach twist.

“Over here,” the ship’s healer instructed as Tev and the Elites set the Human into the medical rig, a flat, bed-like object attached to the ‘floor’ of the room, while the healers, wearing specialized magnetized leg braces allowing them to walk in the weightless environment like most of the ship’s crew, buzzed about the room.

As the Human was secured into the rig, the ship’s healer, a kindly, older woman named Ch’iam smiled at Tev.

“A good hunt, I see, Tev” she noted.

Her ears flattening atop her head in clear embarrassment, Tev smirked.

“I was born an artist, not a hunter” she reminded the healer as the three Elites took up positions by the entrances.

“But now you are a warrior,” Ch’iam noted as Tev attached her leg braces “as we all are” the healer continued as Tev wobbled slight before regaining her equilibrium (such as it was in space).

Leg braces audibly clomping on the deck plating like some hoofed animal, Tev approached the unconscious Human.

“Ugly, motherless beasts, aren’t they?” she remarked.

“Perhaps,” Ch’iam dismissed, her tail swishing in a dismissive gesture “but, I’m sure that to them, we are just as ugly” she pointed out.

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Tev chuckled. Sobering, she reached out, taking one of the Human’s arms and lifting it up, wrinkling her nose at the sight of the five-fingered hand, holding up her own three-fingered hand for comparison.

Letting the limb drop (where it lazily floated), she turned to Ch’iam.

“Why is it still alive?” she asked “I thought that their warriors killed themselves upon capture?”

“They don’t actually,” Ch’iam corrected “see?” she gestured towards the back of the Human’s neck, where what appeared to be a small tube had been surgically implanted, the other end of the tube disappeared into to the Human’s armor.

“What is that?” Tev asked.

“Death,” Ch’iam answered “it’s connected to a poison-filled capsule in the armor and can be triggered by the Human to deliver the poison directly into the bloodstream,” she explained “but,” she gently pulled the collar off the Human’s neck, turning it to show Tev a clear puncture in the material, placing one finger through the hole for added effect “you got lucky,” she explained “your shot severed the tubing from the suicide capsule,” she explained as she passed the collar to another healer “this may very well be the first Human to captured alive” she commented.

“Assuming it stays alive that is,” a new voice said

The two women turned to see Shipmaster Te’z’a herself walk into the room. Approaching the rig, she studied the Human for a moment before looking up at Ch’iam.

“Will it live?” she asked.

“Oh yes,” Ch’iam nodded “my scans indicate that she has a mild concussion, but she’ll pull through” she explained.

Shipmaster Te’z’a nodded.

“Once you’ve completed your evaluation, Healer, I want the Human transferred to a holding cell” she ordered.

“Yes, Shipmaster” Ch’iam nodded.

“I understand that you are to be congratulated, Warrior” the Shipmaster remarked, turning to Tev.

“Yes, Shipmaster” Tev coughed, struggling to straighten to attention in the weightless environment.

The Shipmaster looked her up and down.

“You’re from the Northern Trees, aren’t you?” she remarked.

“Yes, Shipmaster,” Tev nodded “Warrior Tev M’a’Tel, daughter of M’a of Clan T’el” she introduced herself.

“Ah, yes,” the Shipmaster nodded “I’ve read about you, Warrior, you’re a fairly late addition to our fair ship are you not?”

“Yes, Shipmaster,” Tev nodded “I was originally assigned to the Red Claw habitat” she explained.

The Shipmaster nodded.

“I’d like you to see to our prisoner, Warrior,” she instructed “treat it well, it may have information that we could use”

Tev crossed her arms across her chest in an X-shape, saluting her Shipmaster in the old way.

“As you command” she replied.

“Ah, a traditionalist I see,” the Shipmaster chuckled as she turned to leave “carry on” she added as she left.

Now once again alone with the healer, Tev turned back to the still-unconscious Human, studying the various pieces of armor as they were methodically removed.

“What’s this?” Tev asked, taking one of the gauntlets and examining what appeared to be another medical implant.

“Ah, _that_ is how the Humans control their warriors,” Ch’iam explained “we’re not entirely sure what it is, but it appears to both enhance speed and strength as well as appearing to be highly addictive”

“They drug their warriors?” Tev exclaimed in disgust.

“So it would seem,” Ch’iam sighed “if you think that’s shocking, look at this,” she held out the datapad “see the genetic profile?”

“Yes?” Tev nodded, not really seeing what the healer what showing her.

“They’re clones” Ch’iam explained

“What’s a…‘clone’?” Tev asked

“All of their warriors are identical,” Ch’iam explained “artificially grown from a single genetic sample”

“I thought that was impossible” Tev exclaimed.

“For us, perhaps, but not for them,” Ch’iam sighed “think of it, an entire army of identical warriors, all created on demand. No wonder they’re winning this war”

“Animals” Tev snarled in disgust…


	2. In The Dark, In The Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter TWO! Enjoy! :=)

******

FX-1139 blinked as she came back to awareness. Wrinkling her nose, she registered the sharp smell of antiseptic, that combined with the white, sterile walls and the sensation of weightlessness told her that she aboard either a ship or a space station. Looking around, she could see a few figures moving about, their forms hazy and blurred due to the bright overhead lights and her own blurry vision, but the profiles were larger and bulkier than Humans, meaning that she had been captured by the cats.

Trying to keep as still as possible, lest she attract any attention, she spotted a set of medical implements resting on a tray attached to her bed by an articulated arm, the tools clearly being magnetized to the tray’s surface. Wriggling, she managed to work one arm free from the restraints, managing to grab what appeared to be a scalpel before moving her hand back to her side as a set of heavy, metallic footsteps approached.

Keeping her eyes lidded, FX-1139 watched as the older female jev’ich examined the medical readouts, absently speaking to the other jev’ich in the room, the hissing, chirping sounds of their language foreign and harsh to FX-1139’s ears as the jev’ich doctor turned to examine her. Taking the opportunity, FX-1139 swung out with her free arm, narrowly missing the alien’s throat.

Springing back from the swing, Healer Ch’iam lunged, pinning the Human to the medical rig with one hand as she knocked the scalpel out of FX-1139’s hand, the blade lazily spinning away.

“Be still! Be still!” Ch’iam urged as the Human kicked and flailed uselessly in the restraints, the lack of gravity denying her the much-needed leverage she would have needed to escape.

“Sedation!” Ch’iam called out to one of her apprentices.

“Yes, Healer!”

 **[** Fucking cats!! **]** the Human snarled as her failing quieted down as the sedative took effect. Taking a breath, Ch’iam reflexively reached up towards her neck, feeling a small bead of blood spinning away from her greying fur.

“Healer, you’re bleeding” an apprentice breathed.

“Yes, I know,” Ch’iam nodded shakily as she retrieved a medkit and pressed a sterile pad to the small wound “well,” she breathed as she assessed her patient “I think she’s going to make a speedy recovery” she remarked sarcastically…

******

Tev M’a’Tel sighed as she finished securing the prisoner in the cell, the built-in restraints effectively pinned the unconscious Human to the wall. Of course, in microgravity, the difference between the ‘wall’ and the ‘floor’ was largely a matter of opinion.

Pushing off the wall, Tev lazily floated back across the cell into the corridor outside, catching herself on the wall, she shut and locked the cell before remaining where she was, idly bobbing in the air as she studied the Human.

“Enjoying the view, Tev?”

Turning, she smirked at the Elite standing guard; he was a burly male, with orange fur with black stripes.

“Just wondering about them,” she admitted, turning back to study the Human “wondering why they’re so committed to this war” she explained.

“Hmm,” the Elite scoffed “I doubt if even the Builder Herself knows” he muttered.

“No,” Tev agreed “I doubt She would”

******

Hours later, Tev sighed as she tried to sleep. Climbing out of her sleeping pouch, she pushed off the wall, lazily floating across the small space of her cabin towards the wall terminal, pressing her thumb to it.

“ _Terminal ready_ ”

“Access anthropology database,” she requested “subject, Humans”

“ _Accessing,_ ” the terminal intoned “ _attention, some information may be restricted by order of the Pride Council of War,_ ” it warned “ _do you wish to proceed?_ ”

“Proceed” Tev instructed.

“ _There are approximately forty-thousand entries related to subject, Human,_ ” the terminal explained “ _please specify search parameters_ ”

“Search for any details relating to Human language and government” Tev instructed.

“ _All information relating to Human government is restricted to Battlemasters and above_ ”

“Then just tell me how to talk to them!” Tev snarled, annoyed.

“ _Accessing Human linguistic database_ ”

Sighing quiet relief, Tev began to read the information as it scrolled down the screen…

******

As the day shift began, Tev sleepily floated down the corridor towards the Human’s prison cell.

“Warrior” one of the Elites on guard nodded at her as she approached.

“Lancer,” she replied, not knowing his name, and besides she outranked him anyway. She nodded towards the cell “how is she?” she asked.

“Quiet,” the Elite replied “it awoke sometime in the night and we’ve released it from the restraints,” he explained “it refused a meal” he added.

“So I figured,” Tev nodded “I’ll take over now, you’re relieved, Lancer”

“As you command, Warrior”

Leg braces clomping audibly, he turned down the corridor. Now alone, Tev floated up to the transparent barrier, assessing the Human floating within. The Human was floating from wall to wall and then from wall to ceiling, clearly trying to find a way out as Tev lightly tapped on the barrier with one extended claw.

Turning, the Human pushed off the ceiling, coming to float before Tev. Frowning, Tev consulted her datapad.

 **[** He...ll…o **]** she tried, the strange chirping, chattering sounds of the Human language feeling heavy and cloying on her tongue.

The Human smirked.

 **[** FX-1139, Sergeant, Clone Trooper Regiment, attached to the _SS Agrippa_ , Fifth Fleet **]** it said.

Tev frowned at the message flashing across the datapad’s screen.

**FURTHER INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR TRANSLATION**

Scowling, she struggled to form the next words in the Human’s language.

 **[** My name is Tev M’a’T’el, what it is yours? **]**

 **[** FX-1139, Sergeant, Clone Trooper Regiment, attached to the _SS Agrippa_ , Fifth Fleet **]** the Human repeated.

Tev glanced at her datapad.

**Linguistic database accessed, partial translation available**

Tapping the screen, she pulled up the partial translation.

“FX-1139, Sergeant, Clone Trooper Regiment, attached to the _SS Agrippa_ , Fifth Fleet” a synthesized voice issued from the datapad, overlaid a recording of the Human’s voice.

Tev frowned.

 **[** Agrippa, **]** she repeated “is that your name?” she asked.

Any answer the Human would have said was lost as an alert blared out through the ship.

“ _All hands, this is the Shipmaster. Prepare for FTL jump_ ” Shipmaster Te’z’a announced over the shipwide.

Tucking her pad under her arm, Tev gripped the handrail built into the wall tightly with both hands.

“ _FTL jump in five…,_ ” the helm officer announced over the shipwide “ _four…three…two…one…jumping now_ ”

“I hate this part” Tev muttered as she felt the air around her become charged with static electricity as the _Che’z’a_ jumped to FTL…

******

Out of the two warring sides, it had been the jev’ich who had first discovered the secret to traveling faster-than-light without actually traveling ‘faster’ than light. Finding a unique type of plant on their planet’s second moon, they soon discovered that the roots of this unique, extra-planetary fungus extended down into the quantum level, forming a vast network of conduits at a quantum level.

At this level, the distinctions between thought, matter, and most importantly, time, broke down, a distance of several hundred light-years could be crossed using this network in only a few days or even hours. This revelation had opened up a whole new field of opportunities for the jev’ich, as this strange network could be used a shortcut through space to other worlds beyond their own.

But despite all the opportunities that ‘branch space’, as it was called, offered, it was not without its drawbacks. Firstly, it seemed that artificial intelligences were incapable of safely or accurately navigating the network and many of the early, automated FTL-capable ships were lost, seemingly doomed to endlessly drift through the vast cosmic web for entirety, and even by the present, ships still became lost in the vast, infinite web, never to return.

The second drawback was that it appeared, the network was constantly shifting and changing, a route that could be crossed in a matter of minutes one day, could suddenly take days or weeks the next. The third drawback was that a direct interface between an organic navigator and the network was required, the controversial solution was select and train individuals to be willingly injected with a sample of the fungus inside a special isolation chamber. Once inside the bloodstream, the fungal spores would attach themselves to the individuals’ central nervous system, forming a direct, albeit temporary, link between the navigator’s mind and the fungus, and by extension, the network itself.

Once linked to the network, the navigator seemed to be capable of affecting probability within the network, guiding the ship safely to its destination simply by ‘deciding’ that the ship would go there.

However these navigators, who soon became honored and revered figures in jev’ich society, were not invulnerable. The strain would soon take its toll on them, seasoned navigators would often become catatonic when not linked to the network, often quietly murmuring strange, random and cryptic phrases to themselves, seemingly unaware of the world around them, and yet, when given a destination, could still safely guide their ship to it with ease.

As such, the navigators became tragic, poetic beings in jev’ich culture. To be chosen as one was both a blessing and a curse.

Upon first contact with Humans, the jev’ich had initially had the advantage, their ships could easily ambush or escape from Human fleets with ease. But, as time went on, the Humans began to succeed in capturing jev’ich warriors and technology and, by the war’s second year, had succeeded in reverse-engineering the FTL drive, launching fleets of their own FTL-capable ships into battle, suddenly meeting the jev’ich on equal footing.

Exiting the jump, the _Che’z’a_ seemed to ‘wink’ into existence, emerging from branch space in a rippling, spherical ‘bubble’ of blue-white light, silently gliding through the darkness of the stars towards the large orbital habitat orbiting a bright red gas giant.

Docking with the habitat, workers from the habitat began to offload supply crates both to and from the _Che’z’a_ , restocking her with vital materials of food, medicine, and weapons and ammunition.

Once the restocking was complete, the _Che’z’a_ began to pull away from habitat. On the ship’s command deck, an alarm began to blare.

“Shipmaster,” an officer called out “sensors are detecting a nearby energy surge” she reported.

“An FTL jump?” Shipmaster Te’z’a asked.

“It might be” the officer confirmed as another alert rang out.

“Confirmed, Shipmaster! Three Human ships just exited branch space fifty thousand kilometers above us”

“Type?” Te’z’a demanded.

“Three Type-42 warships,” the officer reported “they’re locking onto us”

“Jam their targeting locks,” Te’z’a ordered “launch countermeasures! Full evasive!” she ordered as the three Human ships opened fire, dozens of missiles streaking away into the dark…


	3. No Quarter, No Surrender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THREE! Enjoy! :=)

******

**SS _Agrippa_**

Onboard the bridge of the S.S. _Agrippa_ , Captain Honoria Lewis scowled at the radar screen as the missiles her taskforce had launched were swiftly intercepted by the jev’ich ship.

“Jev’ich countermeasures successfully intercepted our missiles, Captain,” the weapons’ officer reported “the _Agamemnon_ and the _Midas_ are closing in on the habitat” he added

“Captain,” the comms officer spoke up “I’m picking up a transponder signal”

“From where?” Honoria asked.

“From the jev’ich ship, sir”

Honoria frowned.

“What kind of transponder signal?” she asked

“It looks like a clone trooper transponder,” the comms officer reported “possibly a subdermal tracking device”

“That means that there’s a living clone trooper on that ship,” Honoria scowled “target a full spread on that warship,” she ordered “take it out”

“Aye, Captain”

******

**The _Che’z’a_**

“Countermeasures successful, Shipmaster”

Shipmaster Te’z’a nodded.

“Plot firing solutions on the other two ships,” she ordered “we must protect that habitat”

“As you command, Shipmaster”

******

Tev grunted as she bounced off one wall. Regaining her equilibrium, she hurriedly pulled herself down the corridor; ‘swimming’ down the hatch in the floor to exit in the ship’s armory.

“M’a’T’el,” an Elite called out “suit up”

“As you command” Tev nodded, quickly wriggling into a suit of combat armor. Strapping on her leg braces, she magnetized herself to the deck plating.

“All right!” the combatmaster called out “the habitat is under attack. Our mission is to dock with the habitat via dropship and get as many people out of there as we can,”

The combatmaster’s eyes briefly scanned the line of warriors.

“Move out!” she ordered…


	4. Total War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter FOUR! Enjoy! :=)

******

**_Che’z’a_ dropship 116**

The small, cramped, vaguely cubical dropship silently drifted through space, going largely unnoticed by the four large ships exchanging fire. Strapped in the safety harness, Tev took a nervous breath as she felt the small ship shudder as it successfully docked with the habitat.

“Positive seal on the docking collar” the pilot reported as a circular hatch in the ‘floor’ of the ship’s dropbay wheeled open.

“Move out!” the combatmaster ordered as Tev and the other warriors glided through the hatch and into the habitat, magnetizing their boots to the deck planting as they cleared the dropship.

The interior corridor of the habitat was dark, lit only by dim emergency lighting. A group of a dozen or so civilians huddled against the far wall, this was primarily an agricultural habitat, home to homesteaders and farmers largely, it was in no way a military target.

Opening the faceplate of her helmet, Tev bent down towards a huddled group of children, smiling at them.

“Come on, little ones” she encouraged as the habitat shuddered from a distant impact, sparks raining down from the ceiling, which seems to spur the frightened civilians into action, and getting to their feet en mass, they desperately scrambled for the relative safety of the dropship, cramming inside the small ship.

“We’re at full capacity, Combatmaster!” the pilot called out.

“Understood, detach and return to the _Che’z’a_ ” the combatmaster ordered, the dropship detaching with a deep shuddering _thud_ a few seconds later, spinning away in the void as a second dropship docked, taking up the docking port that had been occupied by the first ship, while Tev and her comrades got the rest of the civilians ready for departure, ushering them into the next ship.

“How many more are there?” Tev called.

“At least twenty!” another warrior called back.

“Twenty?” Tev exclaimed “oh by the Builder, we’ll never get them all out in time” she moaned as the second dropship detached.

“Last ship inbound!”

“Make sure there are no stragglers!” the combatmaster ordered as the habitat shuddered again, harder than before, the hull creaking ominously.

“All right! Let’s go!” Tev called out as she hurriedly scooped up a young girl and sprinted back to the docking port, thrusting the girl through first before hurriedly climbing through after her.

“Wait! Wait!”

Tev paused, hanging halfway out of the hatch, seeing two men struggling to reach her. One was clearly injured, limping, while the other struggled to support him.

“M’a’T’el! We have to go!”

“Combatmaster! We have two more civilians here!” Tev called as the habitat shuddered again.

“There’s no time!” the combatmaster called back “we have to go _now_!!!”

Sparing the two civilians a final look, Tev knew that the combatmaster was right.

“Builder forgive me” she whispered as she slid through the hatch and sealed it behind her, grimacing as the dropship detached from the habitat, rapidly pulling away.

Twisting in the small space of the docking port, Tev frantically peered through the small circular viewport, watching in horror as a dozen missiles streaked through the dark to strike the habitat, destroying it a brilliant bloom of light…


	5. The Cost of War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter FIVE! Enjoy! :=)

******

The medical bay on the _Che’z’a_ was by far the largest room on the ship, second perhaps to the reactor room, and now the medical bay was at full capacity, the air filled with the shouts and screams of the wounded and dying. Some were crewmembers of the _Che’z’a_ itself, injured during the attack, most were the civilian residents of the now-destroyed habitat.

Standing in one entranceway, her fur stained and matted with blood that was not hers, Tev M’a’T’el watched the apprentices and Healer Chi’am hurrying through the aisles, frantically rushing from one wounded patient to another, their requests for help and answering orders being almost-completely drowned out by the cries of the patients as the apprentices struggled to administer sedatives and pain-stoppers to the less-critically wounded before moving onto the critically wounded patients as other apprentices struggled to sort out the wounded from those who were not.

Realizing that she had no place here, Tev moved off, slowly trudging down the corridor, cringing as the ship shuddered, the lights flickering, as another volley of missiles exploded against the veritable wall of smaller countermeasures; the small, melon-sized spheres were guided by an internal AI and would arrange themselves into an ever-shifting rectangular formation around the ship, attempting to either shoot down or block or otherwise intercept the enemy missiles before they reached the ship, being destroyed themselves in place of the _Che’z’a_.

Despite that, occasionally a missile—or, to be more accurate, shrapnel from the missiles—would make it through the roving wall and strike the ship, piercing the hull, causing critical damage both to the ship and to the crew within.

Rounding the corner, Tev found herself in the detention area, approaching the one lone occupied cell, where their Human prisoner.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked, not expecting an answer, and in fact, the Human remained silent as she floated in her cell…

******

“Report!” Shipmaster Te’z’a demanded as the command deck shuddered around.

“Hull breaches on all decks!”

“We’ve expended all countermeasures!”

“What about ammunition?” Te’z’a panted out.

“Only one salvo left, Shipmaster”

“The enemy ships are closing in!”

“Can we jump?” Te’z’a asked.

“Negative, we haven’t had enough cool down time!”

Te’z’a scowled, angrily pounding a fist down on the arm of her command chair in frustration.

“Full reverse!” she ordered “back off! Back off!”

“Enemy ships are locking firing solutions onto us!”

“Shipmaster! Inbound FTL jump! Directly astern!” an officer suddenly announced. At that moment, another jev’ich ship exited branch space directly above the _Che’z’a_.

“It’s the Matriarch’s ship” Te’z’a breathed in awe as the larger warship and pride of the Fleet opened fire on the three Human ships, critically wounding the S.S. _Midas_ and obliterating the _Agamemnon_ , forcing the _Agrippa_ into retreat, the ship vanishing in a blue-white bubble of light.

“Shipmaster,” the comms officer breathed “we’re being hailed”

Te’z’a nodded shakily.

“Let’s see it,” she ordered, standing up as the image of an elderly woman’s face appeared on the main screen “Matriarch” Te’z’a acknowledged.

“ _Shipmaster,_ ” the Matriarch replied “ _I’m sorry we’re late_ ,” she apologized “ _we received the distress call from both yourselves and the Black Claw habitat, and hurried to assist,_ ” she explained “ _unfortunately, we arrived too late it seems_ ” she continued.

“We were able to rescue most of the habitat’s population,” Te’z’a explained “unfortunately, as you can see, Honored Mother, we’re in worse shape”

The Matriarch smiled.

“ _Prepare to receive emergency medical teams,_ ” she replied “ _we’ll dock with you in five minutes_ ”

“Acknowledged, Matriarch,” Te’z’a replied as the commline was severed. Frowning at her radar screen, she noticed that the remaining Human ship was still listing in the void.

“Exec,” she called to her First Officer “once the Matriarch’s ship has docked with us dispatch a shuttle to the remaining Human ship,” she ordered “check for survivors, salvage what you can”

“As you command, Shipmaster”


	6. On The Other Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter SIX! Enjoy! :=)

******

The corridors of the _Che’z’a_ were filled with the sounds of the jev’ich talking, orders being passed down the line as supply crates bumped about the corridors, being easily moved around in the weightless environment.

Largely ignored inside her cell, FX-1139 studied the jev’ich as they passed, a few of them pausing or slowing in their movements to study her as they passed. Ignoring the stares, FX-1139 pushed up towards the ‘ceiling’ of her cell, the lights briefly catching on the barcode tattooed on the inside of her left forearm.

Like all members of the FX-series, she’d been bred for war, grown in an artificial womb at the cloning centers on Luna, her growth and development accelerated via careful genetic engineering and hormonal treatment, educated while _in vitro_ via a neural implant, emerging from the tank as a fully grown adult female of nineteen biological years of age, already knowing how to walk, talk, and, most importantly, how to fight, but nothing else of human interaction.

She had never seen a Van Gough, or heard Mozart, and the only trees she’d seen had been on distant, nameless planets and her knowledge of them was limited to a tactical standpoint, she would never pause to admire a tree for the beauty of its form.

Like all clones, she was replaceable, disposable.

It hadn’t always been that way. Once, over two centuries ago, when they had first been created, clones had been seen as equal, but like so many things, that had been washed away when Aegis came to power. Taking its name from a mythical shield from Greek myth, Aegis had started out as a defense collation, formed by Earth’s most powerful nations to defend the populace from increasing acts of terror regardless of national identity or ideology.

For a time, it seemed as if world peace was within reach, but, as the population increased and resources became scare, that dream had been shattered. Wars broke out in already impoverished regions over food, water, and living space, which only served to worsen the very reason the war were being fought for, as hundreds and thousands were displaced as entire communities were wiped off the face of the map due to war or natural disasters caused by ever-worsening climate change.

In the midst of all this chaos, acts of terrorism increased worldwide as a direct result, the terrorists’ acts only serving to worsen the very acts they were protesting.

And as the world burned, Aegis slowly took control. At first, their actions had been altruistic and benevolent, coordinating relief efforts and quelling civil unrest with little effect, the damage that the human race had done to their world was severe, and soon, humanity turned its eyes from the surface of their dying home to the stars above.

The first interplanetary colonies on the Moon and Mars had been founded out of a desire for survival not out of altruism or a sense of exploration or discovery, and as Humanity spread out into the stars, they found no other life, no plants, no animals, not even microorganisms.

Despite the obvious disappointment that this revelation caused with some, others quickly saw it as an opportunity; if humanity was truly alone in the universe, then that meant that the universe was theirs for the taking, the idea of manifest destiny took firm hold on a good majority of the collective psyche of humankind, and with it, a self-deluded belief in their own inherent superiority.

Perfecting the technology to build sleeper ships, Humanity quickly spread out across the stars, finding dozens of empty worlds to change and shape as they saw fit, leaving their footprints on dozens upon dozens of worlds over the next century. These efforts were all spearheaded by Aegis, which had becomes a de factor world government in spirit if not in name, while the well-intentioned but bloated and mishandled United Nations fell by the wayside.

And all of the Aegis’ grand efforts had been led by clones, each series patterned after a single individual but engineered to be stronger, faster, and more resilient than their donors, who had become celebrities in their own right.

And when Humanity had made first contact with the jev’ich, it had been clones who had been the first to see alien life. The first contact was, in a word, a disaster. No one knew who fired first, but the meeting had ended with wounded survivors on both sides returning home to tell their respective governments about strange, vicious monsters from the stars.

With this terrible knowledge spreading across humanity’s sphere of influence, Aegis had swiftly declared martial law, becoming an emergency military government. It’s first act had been to order the breeding of dozens of clone troopers to go to war with the alien menace, the growing clone rights’ movement swiftly forgotten in the face of this unexpected and unprecedented discovery.

Clones were no longer seen as living beings, or even a novel curiosity, no, now they were merely disposable cannon fodder, bred to fight and die for a planet that most of them would never see in their short lifetime of four years.

But, for all the advances that cloning could do, for all the changes that could be made to the human genome, the irrepressible human spirit could never truly be changed or removed, and some clones would pause on the surface of an alien world to admire the brilliance of a flower, or marvel at the beauty of a twin sunset.

Or even feel compassion and empathy for a race they’d been created to destroy, even if they couldn’t name what they were feeling.

FX-1139 was one of those latter. Floating in her cell, watching as wounded jev’ich were hurried past her cell, she couldn’t identify the strange sensation she felt as she saw the broken and battered bodies passing by, her stomach felt tight, twisting itself into knots, her chest felt constructed, like a weight was suddenly pressing down her as her throat went dry and tightened.

Panting for breath, she began to leap from wall to floor to ceiling with increasing urgency; her movements became uncoordinated, random, wild as she began to throw herself against the interior surfaces of her cell.

Clutching and tearing at her head, she started screaming…


	7. Universal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter SEVEN! Enjoy! :=)

******

Tev cringed as she watched from behind the heavy transparent isolation door, as FX-1139 violently shivered and shook in her restraints, a heavy sheen of sweat floating away from her in the zero-gravity, forming a small cloud of lazily spinning droplets in the air around her form.

“What’s happening to her?” Tev wondered in muted horror as Healer Chi’am came to stand beside her, the heavy clomping on her magnetized leg braces heralding her arrive.

“Rejection,” Chi’am answered “as I said before, the same drug that Humans use to give their warriors greater stamina and endurance is also highly addictive,” she explained “without it, her body is undergoing a massive shock”

“Can’t you do something?” Tev wondered “ease her pain somehow?” she pleaded.

Chi’am shook her head.

“I don’t know enough about her biochemistry,” she explained “by all the knowledge that we have, she shouldn’t even be able to breathe the same air as us,” she shook her head again “no, for now, all we can do is wait” she declared.

“Wait for what?” Tev asked.

“For it to end,” Chi’am answered “right now she is passing through what our ancestors called the ‘long valley’, a journey into one’s very self,” she explained “once she completes the journey then, and only then, can I even begin to treat her”

“And if she doesn’t complete the journey?” Tev pressed “what then?”

“Then,” Chi’am sighed “then she will go to the Underworld and join her fallen ancestors in glorious light and song”

Both women fell into silence.

“I’d like to sit with her if I may” Tev requested softly after a moment’s thought.

“Yes, that’s good,” Chi’am nodded “sit with her,” she encouraged “show her that we are not monstrous motherless beasts”

Turning to leave, she left Tev alone. Taking a breath, Tev silently signaled to the guard before slipping out of her leg braces and floating into the isolation chamber, coming to the Human’s bedside.

The smell of sickness was strong in the isolation lab; it clung to every surface, clinging to Tev’s fur and bodysleeve like a physical thing. Ignoring how it made her eyes burn, Tev reached out, gently taking the Human’s five-fingered hand in her own, smaller four-fingered one.

“I’m here,” she whispered, keeping her tone soft and soothing, even though she knew that the Human probably couldn’t understand her “you’re not alone,” she continued “I care” she breathed…

******

_FX-1139 gasped, frantically clawing at the dust and rocks she was laying against, watching as a brilliant burst of light lit up the night, the light illuminating the battlefield around her, littered with the bodies of the rest of her unit._

_Turning her head, she watched as another clone fell, struck down by jev’ich anti-infantry fire. As the other trooper fell, their helmet cracked and split open, revealing the face of the clone within. Like all clones within her unit, it was an identical face to her own, one of her fallen sisters._

_Sisters. That was how the drill sergeants had trained them, each clone of a particular series having been grown from one particular source donor, all identical in appearance, all raised and trained together in close quarters, able to recognize and distinguish each other by sight alone without needing any other identifying marks._

_The fallen clone now lifelessly staring back at FX-1139 was FX-1120, a new ‘recruit’, only three months old, freshly decanted. It had been her first combat mission and she had looked up to the two year-old FX-1139 for guidance as they had charged out of the dropship, only to become lost in the haze of dust and smoke as the battle raged._

_Reaching out with a trembling hand, FX-1139 carefully touched the younger clone’s dead face. Death was not a foreign concept to clone troopers, they regularly trained using live ammunition, but this was different, this feeling of…hurt, anger, of feeling like she was sinking down, down into a deep, dark abyss._

_Was this how the enemy felt when they lost soldiers? Did their comrades feel this way too when they saw one of their own being killed?_

_Jerking her hand away from the dead FX-1120, FX-1139 curled into a tight ball and began whimpering…_

******

Blinking, FX-1139 came to awareness. The first thing she noticed was how dry her throat was second was how tired and achy her body was. Grimacing at the bright lights, she looked around, finding that she was once more restrained. Seeing a shadow fall over her, she frowned as she recognized the fawn-colored jev’ich who had captured her.

 **[** Greet the sun, **]** the alien said.

FX-1139 frowned, not understanding the complex chirping, hissing growls that made up the jev’ich language.

Brightening, the alien held up a small device, gesturing to one of the rounded, tufted ears atop her head before gesturing to FX-1139’s own ears. Not sensing any malice or threat in the gesture, FX-1139 titled her head, allowing the alien to the fit the odd headpiece to her ear, fumbling a bit as the device had been designed to attach to an ear that was atop the skull rather than on the side.

Scowling, the alien finally got the device affixed, straightening up, she affixed an identical device to her own ear.

“Can you understand me?” she asked, a synthesized feminine voice filtering in through the earpiece into FX-1139’s own ears overlaid with the alien’s own natural voice.

“Yes” FX-1139 answered.

The alien smiled, displaying noticeably pointed teeth, but it was an amused smile, non-threatening.

“Good,” she said “because I have many questions for you” she declared…

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought :=)


End file.
